A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Vik Jolly.
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The headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
San Diego may shift the second phase of the city’s Pure Water
sewage recycling system to a more efficient purification method
that could save billions of dollars, preventing steep jumps in
local sewer and water bills. The new method could dramatically
change the size, scope and cost of the massive project’s Phase
Two, which had been expected to be nearly twice as large as the
nearly complete first phase. … That change is possible
because California recently loosened its purification rules to
allow purified wastewater to be pumped directly into a
water system, instead of being stored for months in reservoirs
or underground basins.
Community members in Tucson packed the Pima County Board of
Supervisors meeting Tuesday asking them to put a stop to
Project Blue — a data center proposed for a 290-acre swath of
county land. A non-disclosure agreement obtained by the Arizona
Luminaria show Amazon Web Services is the company behind the
project. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to
approve the land sale in June, and the proposal next sat the
city of Tucson — which needed to decide whether to annex the
land and provide millions of gallons of city water to cool off
computer systems inside the data center. City leaders
rejected that proposal this summer amid public outcry. Now
Project Blue’s developer, Beale Infrastructure, wants to use
electricity for its cooling needs from Tucson Electric Power,
or TEP.
Last week, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
entertained a resolution that would renege on the board’s
previous support for dam removal projects in the Potter Valley,
where PG&E is in the process of decommissioning the Scott
and Cape Horn dams. The resolution was ultimately rejected in
favor of an alternative … under which “Mendocino County Board
of Supervisors reaffirms the County of Mendocino’s support for
the two co-equal goals of the Two Basin Solution, IWPC, ERPA,
and the Water Diversion Agreement.” However, due to
stipulations of the Brown Act, that resolution, which wasn’t
included on the agenda 72 hours in advance of the meeting, must
be voted on at a future meeting.
… In late September, a Chinook salmon was seen on
video ascending a fish ladder at Keno Dam, one of the
Klamath’s two remaining dams in the upper basin southwest
of Klamath Falls. Since then, cameras and radio tags have
confirmed the presence of salmon at various locations further
upstream, the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife announced on Oct. 17. This marks the
salmon’s first return to the Upper Klamath Basin since the dams
were built in the early 20th century.
It’s been a year since golden mussels were first discovered in
California—and the state’s response has been swift and
strategic. In partnership with California State Parks and the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, DWR is taking
decisive action to combat the spread of this invasive species
and safeguard California’s vital water infrastructure. Golden
mussels pose a serious threat to the State Water Project (SWP),
which delivers water to 27 million Californians and 750,000
acres of farmland. To protect this critical infrastructure, DWR
has launched a series of proactive measures aimed at minimizing
the mussels’ impact on our water conveyance system.
… Members of the board overseeing the [Ariz.] Water
Infrastructure Finance Authority … are trying to figure out
how to spend what they have — and quickly. Instead of the $1
billion, the Legislature and then-Gov. Doug Ducey promised them
three years ago to find new water sources, the agency commonly
called WIFA has just over a third of that money. That’s
because lawmakers and current Gov. Katie Hobbs cut or
completely eliminated the second two $333 million payments
promised to WIFA. And they clawed back some of the deposits
already made to the agency, spending the money elsewhere, and
leaving the board with less than $400 million.
… Conflicts between river uses and property owners date back
decades in Colorado, a state that has the murkiest access laws
in the country. Courts have handed down rulings in contentious
lawsuits involving access on the Arkansas River and Colorado
River. Attorneys general have written opinions. Lawmakers have
tried twice to clear the waters around floating and wading
through private lands. And now, there’s even a split in a newly
formed stream access coalition with paddling groups leaving a
not-quite-unified effort to craft legislation that would open
all of Colorado waterways to the public.
A government agency that failed to provide running water to a
town in Puerto Rico for most of the last eight years may have
violated the U.S. Constitution, the First Circuit ruled Friday.
… The case appears to be the first of its kind in the
country, though the Sixth Circuit in 2019 found a potential
constitutional violation in Flint, Michigan’s distribution of
contaminated water. A federal judge in Puerto Rico
dismissed Morovis’ suit, ruling the outages didn’t “shock the
conscience,” as required for a due process violation. But on
appeal, U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman said PRASA’s alleged
deliberate indifference could meet that standard.
Downpours produced major impacts across California in October.
… The widespread drenching, however, didn’t translate into
large impacts on the California reservoir levels, data shows.
… California’s largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, was at
57% of its total capacity through Wednesday, 5% above normal
for this time of year. … Lake Oroville, California’s
second largest reservoir, was at 55% of total capacity through
Wednesday, 2% above normal. … The October storm also
impacted the Sierra, where over a foot of snow fell in places.
As Chinook salmon continue to make progress in the Klamath
Basin following dam removal, a local organization is calling
for fish screens to protect both family farms and fish.
… KDD [Klamath Drainage District], which represents 12
large landowners covering 27,000 acres, most of which grow
grain, is emphasizing the urgency for fish screens. It says the
2016 Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement, signed by Oregon,
California, and the federal government, calls for these
governments to help protect landowners and put in measures like
fish screens, if needed.
San Diego County Water Authority officials expect wholesale
water rates to soar by as much as 150% over the next decade,
driven in part by the agency’s struggles to sell some of its
supply — struggles it expects to get worse because of San
Diego’s billion-dollar Pure Water project. A grim reality of
high water costs might persist for residents and businesses in
much of the region if the authority doesn’t find new buyers for
its water, according to a draft of the water authority’s
long-term financial plan presented to water officials on
Thursday.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new and
updated planning tools that water systems across the country
can use to help prevent and respond to cybersecurity incidents.
These tools will help all public water systems protect access
to safe water and aid systems conducting risk and emergency
planning for cybersecurity. … The agency will also
continue to collaborate with water systems to implement best
management practices to swiftly address any cybersecurity
concerns as they arise.
Sacramento’s flood protection projects are falling behind and
that could have triggered a new building ban due to delays. A
similar moratorium was in effect for seven years up until 2015.
Now there’s been a last-minute effort to extend the Dec. 31
deadline. … ”There’s a lot of different flood threats
that could possibly happen in the Sacramento region; we’re not
called the river city for no reason,” said Sean de Guzman, the
flood operations manager at the California Department of Water
Resources. That’s why, back in 2007, state lawmakers set a
deadline requiring Sacramento to have a 200-year level of flood
protection by the end of this year.
… Mute swans are kind of like “aquatic feral pigs,” CDFW
spokesperson Melanie Weaver told SFGATE over the phone
Wednesday. Despite their striking physical appearance, the
birds pose a serious threat to Northern California’s marine
ecosystem, and homeowners now have the authority to shoot them
if they’re on their property, regardless of whether they have a
license, Weaver said. That’s because mute swans
unapologetically consume up to 8 pounds of aquatic vegetation
per day, destroying crucial food and habitat for native
species.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), often called
“forever chemicals”, are highly persistent and widely
distributed contaminants that pose a serious threat to drinking
water quality. In a study published in Water & Ecology, an
international team used bibliometric analysis of 1,281 Web of
Science–indexed publications (2003–2023) to document sustained
growth in research on PFASs in drinking water. For the first
time, the study integrates pollution pathways, monitoring, and
treatment into a single framework that directs researchers and
regulators to the key bottlenecks—namely, the challenges of
monitoring and removing short-chain and ether-based compounds
and safely managing concentrated treatment residuals.
The Kern County Water Agency hired its own former board
president as its new general manager Thursday at an annual base
salary of $525,000. Eric Averett, who apparently resigned his
board seat Oct. 8 though that wasn’t announced until Thursday,
will assume his new duties Nov. 24, according to the employment
agreement unanimously approved by the agency’s board of
directors. … It is a huge job that involves
juggling the needs of 13 often contentious, local agricultural
water districts, overseeing a network of canal systems and
providing water for residents in northeast Bakersfield all
while keeping an eye on what’s happening in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – among other
things.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced two recent key victories to
advance the Delta Conveyance Project — a critical
infrastructure project to safeguard California’s water supplies
amid a hotter, drier future. The administration secured a court
decision reversing a preliminary injunction that was previously
blocking pre-construction geotechnical work. Additionally, the
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has submitted a
certification of consistency for the broader project to the
Delta Stewardship Council (DSC).
The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) and
Searles Valley Minerals have reached a comprehensive settlement
agreement, marking a significant step toward achieving
groundwater sustainability in the Indian Wells
Valley. The agreement states that both IWVGA and Searles have
permanently dropped (“dismissed with prejudice”) the separate
lawsuits they filed against each other. While the main,
comprehensive water rights lawsuit continues, Searles has
agreed not to challenge the scientific and technical findings
of the valley’s mandated Groundwater Sustainability Plan and
will instead work with the IWVGA to implement the plan.
… As the planet’s atmosphere has quickly warmed thanks to the
burning of fossil fuels, the amount of water available in the
world’s rivers, lakes, and reservoirs has shrunk. To
compensate, nations the world over have plundered the water
stored underground to irrigate crops and hydrate parched
citizens. But many of these hidden water reserves are being
sucked dry by humans quicker than they are being replenished
through rainfall and snowmelt, or through artificial
groundwater recharge. The cascading consequences are immense.
Next month, the seven Colorado River Basin states — Arizona,
California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming —
are set to finalize a new framework for sharing a shrinking
resource. Billed as a modern compact for a hotter, drier
century, it will shape how the West survives in an age of
scarcity. Yet amid debates over drought, equity, and cutbacks,
one rapidly expanding demand remains almost invisible: the
immense water consumption of artificial intelligence and the
data centers that sustain it. –Written by nature photographer Rusty Childress.
